There's No World For Me (Without You)
by DobbyRocksSocks
Summary: With Oliver in a coma, what else can Katie do but wait for him to wake up?


**Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.**

**Challenges listed at the bottom.**

**Word Count - **4110

**Hogwarts Assignment 10 - **Healer Studies, Task 2 - Write about a coma. (I'll accept someone falling into a coma, or waking up from one.)

_Written for Dramione Forever, for GGE. This is super late, I'm so sorry. I hope you like it though._

* * *

**No World For Me (Without You)**

* * *

It happened too quickly to even process it. The castle was in chaos. Rubble scattered across the floor, making running as dangerous as fighting as spells flew left and right. A scream left her as she dodged a flash of green, too close, always too close.

This wasn't defence class, where the worst spell could be undone by the professor in mere moments.

The Death Eaters weren't teaching them how to fight fairly, or decently.

Katie ducked another spell and almost fell through the doors that led to the Quidditch field. Oliver had to be there, she knew. Of course, he'd want to protect the place he had the fondest memories in, and she just had to know that he was okay.

She didn't know what she'd do if he wasn't.

…

"_Hey you."_

_Katie looked up to see Oliver standing in the doorway to the hospital room, a bunch of flowers in his arm and a box of chocolate. When he saw her looking he grinned._

"_I wasn't sure what to get so I just got both."_

_She snorted, and waved him in. "What are you doing here?"_

"_You're here," he replied with a shrug as he made himself comfortable in the visitor's chair. "How you doing?"_

_Katie shrugged. "Fine I guess. Waiting to go back to school. The healers said it would be any day now."_

"_That's a good thing, right?"_

_Swallowing hard, Katie shrugged again. "Is it? I tried to deliver a cursed necklace to the headmaster. Not exactly good form, is it?"_

"_It wasn't your fault."_

"_So people keep saying."_

"_Katie… it wasn't your fault. Anyone can be controlled with the Imperious curse, you know that. I know you know that."_

"_Harry can fight it."_

_Oliver snorted. "We all know Harry is a little special, Katie. But people like us, ordinary people… it's not our fault if out autonomy is taken away, okay? You didn't choose to do those things, and if anyone gives you shit about it, well, they're obviously an asshole."_

_A burst of laughter passed her lips and she blinked._

_It had been a really long time since she'd laughed._

…

"Katie?"

Another scream left her, but it calmed immediately when she realised it was Oliver's hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, you're okay!" she gasped, clutching at his ripped and dirty jumper. "I was so worried, Oli! I knew you had to be here, are you okay? Tell me you're okay!"

"Calm down, sweetheart, I'm okay," he confirmed softly, gentle fingers touching a tender place on her cheek where she'd been hit with a piece of falling debris. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "I'm really, really not. I'm scared, Oliver."

"We'll be okay," he promised. "You need to get out of here though. It's not a good idea for you to be here, I don't want you to have any flashbacks or—"

"If you're staying, so am I," Katie said firmly. "I won't leave you here. I can't sit at home, not knowing if you're okay, Oli, I _can't."_

He looked frustrated but understanding and he nodded. "Then you stay by me, okay? Dodge where you can, shield where you can't."

Gripping her wand in her hand, she nodded back.

"Just another opposing team, okay?" Oliver coached quietly. "We've done this so many times on this very pitch. We can do this."

"Okay. Okay, we can do this."

…

_She'd known it wouldn't be easy, going back to school, but she hadn't expected it to be _this _hard. Everywhere she went, people stared at her._

_Everyone she spoke to asked her if she could remember it, if she knew who'd cursed her. So many questions that she herself wanted answers too and didn't have._

_The only bright spot in the whole first week back came in the form of a letter, delivered to the common room late at night._

_It was from Oliver, detailing his schedule at Puddlemere, and the newest chocolate he'd tried, and why Diagon Alley was hell on earth on the weekends._

_Normal stuff._

"_What's got you smiling so hard?" Audrey—one of her yearmates—asked, her eyebrow raised in question._

_Katie just grinned at her and slipped the letter into her book to reply to later. It would be the first of many letters that helped get her through her last year._

…

They fought as they always had. Together. Katie hated every second of it in the way she never had a Quidditch match, but they were managing. They'd been joined by more fighters for the light, though with them had only come more of the dark side.

Katie's neck felt damp with exertion and most likely blood, but she continued on. Another spell, another dodge, another shield.

Oliver shouted out warnings occasionally, his trained Keeper eyes seeing things that she missed. She didn't know how many times he'd saved her life that night, but she knew it was a lot.

"Katie!"

She spun too late, tripping over the arm of someone who hadn't been as lucky as her. She saw the spell coming towards her as though in slow motion, a strange orange-yellow colour that she'd never seen in a spell before, but even so, she had no time to raise a shield to protect herself.

She squeezed her eyes closed and braced herself for an impact that never came. A thud sounded, and a horrifyingly familiar grunt.

…

"_I know you can do better than that," Oliver taunted, both of his hands off his broom as she flew in the air in front of him. "I trained you!"_

_Katie rolled her eyes and feinted, shooting the Quaffle through the right hoop._

_Oliver blinked and then grinned. "See, I told you I trained you better!"_

"_Be serious!" she demanded, pouting slightly at him. "I'll never get the Trial invitation if I don't practice, Oli!"_

"_You'll get it," he replied, tossing the Quaffle back to her._

_He sounded so sure, that she had no choice but to believe him._

…

They'd won the battle, won the war really, but Katie couldn't bring herself to celebrate. She sat beside the hospital bed, Oliver's cold hand held in her own. She'd wanted to cast a warming charm on him, but the healers had shook their head.

His temperature was the least of their concerns.

None of them were sure what the spell was that he'd jumped in front of to protect her. She'd tried her best to describe it, but she hadn't heard the words or seen the wand movement, so her help had been limited at best.

She hated that she couldn't give them more.

She hated that Oliver was lying in that bed because of _her._

She hated that nobody was sure if he'd ever wake up—if she'd ever see his beautiful brown eyes again.

…

_It wasn't a fireworks moment that she'd read about in the books._

_It was a simple press of lips against lips, a hand cupping her cheek, her hand gripping his shirt._

_She thought she preferred it that way._

_When Oliver pulled back, he looked down at her with a small smile._

"_Thank you for joining me for dinner," he murmured, then leant back down for a second kiss. "I had a lot of fun."_

_She returned his smile, and stepped back towards her door. "I had a lot of fun too."_

"_Enough fun that you'll go on another date with me?"_

"_Definitely."_

…

The firewhisky burned as it slid down her throat and she relished it. Almost a week to the day of the battle, and she'd been kicked out of the hospital because the healers needed to do tests on Oliver.

They'd tried to be kind about it, suggested she go home and sleep, change her clothes, shower.

Katie didn't do any of that. She went straight to the closest bar, and ordered the strongest drink she knew of instead.

"Bell?"

"Fuck off, Flint," she muttered, never looking away from the tumbler on the bar in front of her.

"Katie?"

He stopped next to her, leaning on the bar with his elbow. "I heard what happened to Wood. I'm sorry for your loss."

"He's not fucking dead," she snapped. "He's going to be _fine._"

"Bell… you shouldn't—" Flint cut himself off. "It's not a good idea to have that much hope in situations like this, you know? He wouldn't want this for you."

"Flint—"

"Don't you see the danger, Katie, inherent in what you're doing here? You can't… you can't put all your eggs in one basket, you know?"

Katie's hands shook when she picked up the tumbler and drained it of liquid. "It's not dangerous to hope that the love of my life is going to recover from his coma only a week after he went into it," she growled. "And even if it was, I have no fucks to give, because Oliver _is _my life."

"Bell, I didn't mean too—"

Katie shook her head and slid down off the barstool, walking away before Flint could say anything else. He had nothing she wanted to hear anyway.

…

_They were sitting in front of the fire, doing nothing more energetic than just enjoying each other's company. Katie read a book, and Oliver flipped through the latest edition of Quidditch Weekly, his hand threading through her hair._

"_Katie?"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_You know I love you, right?"_

_She blinked and looked up at him. It was the first time the words had been said, though she'd been biting them back for weeks, wondering if it was too early._

"_I love you too."_

_He nodded. "I know. I just wanted to make sure that you knew it too."_

…

"Have you slept at all in the last month?" Angelina asked, her concern evident as she sat down beside Katie. She placed the tray of coffee cups on the table, separating them off between herself, Katie and Alicia, who sat facing them.

Katie shrugged. "A little."

"Katie…"

"Please don't tell me that I have to think about moving on," Katie asked, practically begged, as she wrapped her hands around the cup. "I can't think about that, and I really wish people would stop behaving as thought Oliver has been dead for years!"

"Hey," Alicia said softly. "We're not going to say anything like that. We understand why you're spending all of your time here. We just want you to look after yourself while you wait for Oli to wake up, that's all."

"Sorry," Katie whispered. "I just… everytime I sleep, I see it happen, and I just… so I don't sleep, you know?"

"Insomnia is a beast," Angelina said shaking her head. "I know the feeling."

Katie felt a well of guilt fill her up, and she looked at Angelina. She'd been so wrapped up in what was happening with Oliver, that she hadn't even begun to process the other injuries and deaths that had occurred during the battle. Fred...

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "Are you okay?"

Angelina shook her head. "Not even a little bit, but I don't think anyone is, not really. The war might have ended, but nobody came out of it unscathed."

…

"_Wood. Bell."_

_Katie blinked. The last person she would have expected to greet them was Marcus Flint, and yet here he was, leaning against their booth._

_He had his usual arrogant smile firmly in place, but there was a… kindness to his eyes that she'd never associated with him before._

"_Flint," Oliver greeted back, and again, Katie was surprised at the calmness in his tone._

_The two of them chatted for a few minutes before Flint wandered off, and Katie looked at Oliver questioningly._

_Oliver shrugged. "We all grew up, I guess. He's not so bad. Still a gigantic pain in the ass, but… he's not quite as much of a jerk as he was in school."_

"_You know," Katie said, her lips curving into a smile. "Mature Oliver is very sexy."_

_Oliver grinned at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I can't believe you waited so long to tell me that. I'd have been mature so much earlier!"_

_Katie wrinkled her nose. "I doubt it."_

…

"How long are you going to sit in this dreadful room?"

Katie looked up to see her father standing in the doorway. Her eyes narrowed.

"As long as it takes for him to wake up."

Her father shook his head. "Katie, you're wasting your life! I cannot allow this to continue! You've been holed up here for _months _now! Don't you realise that Oliver has _gone?_"

It was a step too far, way across the lines Katie had drawn in her mind, and she put down the crossword puzzle she'd been working on. "Get out."

"You're coming with me."

"I am _not," _she snapped. "I'm an adult, and you have no right to tell me what I will or won't do anymore! If you ever had any to begin with!"

"I am your father and—"

"Funny way of showing it," Katie sneered. "You didn't come to visit me once when I was the one stuck in a room here, but he did!"

She pointed to Oliver, lying prone in the bed, unmoved in the four months since he'd been put there.

"Katie—"

She shook her head. "No. I'm done talking to you and I'm done listening to you. Get out!"

He stared at her for a long moment before he turned and walked out, the door slamming quietly behind him. Katie stared at the door for a long moment before she did what she hadn't yet allowed herself to do; she curled up in a ball and she cried.

…

"_Move in with me?" Oliver asked, nodding at the letting agent across the street._

_Katie blinked. "What?"_

"_Get a place with me? You already practically live at my flat anyway, right? Let's get a place together."_

"_Is this a spur of the moment thing or..?"_

"_Actually, we have an appointment in, like, ten minutes."_

_When they were greeted by a man with a cheesy smile and wearing a horrid Olive tie, Katie's grin was so wide, her cheeks were hurting._

…

"It's been six months," the healer said quietly. She'd come into the room under the guise of checking Oliver's stats, but Katie wasn't fooled.

"I know."

"I admire your devotion, sweetheart, but… I'm sure he wouldn't want this for you."

"You didn't know him," Katie replied flatly. "You have no idea what he would want for me or anything."

"Miss Bell, perhaps, even just for a couple of days, you could allow yourself some time—"

"I'm not leaving him alone," Katie said. "What if he wakes up and nobody is here?"

"What if he doesn't wake up at all?"

Katie looked out of the window on the dreary day outside. It had been drizzling all day, and she'd been almost glad to be locked up in the hospital room, away from the miserable weather.

Winter was coming fast now as they sped through October.

"He will. I have to believe that he will. Oliver wouldn't leave me like this. He never has before."

"But—"

"I'm sorry," Katie said, knowing that she didn't sound sorry at all. "But I didn't ask for your opinion, and I really don't want it. If you're done checking on him, can you leave us alone please."

…

"_I can't believe this place is ours," Katie said, looking around the small flat. "It's so… adult!"_

_Oliver laughed. "It's only the same as when you stayed at my place."_

_She shook her head. "It's really, really not."_

"_How is it different?"_

"_Well," Katie said, looking around the living room. "Here, I get a say in the decor. And… you definitely do not, if the wallpaper at your flat was anything to judge on."_

_Oliver stared at her for a long moment and then shrugged. "You've probably got a point."_

…

"Everyone wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn't always roll that way. I'm just saying that… maybe you and Oliver…" her mother trailed off. "Will you come home for Christmas at least?"

Katie sighed. "For an hour, yes. But after that, I'll be coming straight back here."

Her mother nodded. "Okay."

"And he _is _my happy ending, Mum. He'll wake up, he has too."

"How do you know?"

Katie smiled slightly. "I saw a shooting star last night."

She saw the way her mum's lips tilted up slightly in remembrance of her childhood. She'd always told Katie that wishes upon a shooting star would come true, and they'd looked for them every night before bedtime.

"Well, then I'm sure everything will work out the way it's meant too. I'll see you on Christmas morning, okay sweetheart?"

"I'll be there, Mum. I promise."

…

"_Merry Christmas, baby," Oliver said, leaning over her._

_She stretched and then looped her arms around his neck. It was their first Christmas waking up together, and Katie quickly decided that she never wanted a Christmas without this wake up call again._

"_Merry Christmas," she replied, voice still a little rough with sleep._

"_The merriest," Oliver agreed, pressing soft kisses to her neck. "And only going to get merrier."_

_Laughing, Katie pushed him away. When he made a wounded, questioning sound, Katie giggled._

"_Christmas, Oli! Presents first, sex later!"_

_Oliver groaned and rolled off her. "Go on then," he said, nodding his head towards the door. "I'll be down in a second."_

_She nodded and he smiled after her as he watched her go._

…

She'd charmed his sheets moss-green—he hated the colour of christmas trees, so she hadn't wanted to charm them that kind of green— and even hung up some mistletoe above his bed.

After spending a couple of hours with her mother in the morning, she'd returned to the hospital and spent the day with Oliver. She'd even read him A Christmas Carol.

Her hopeful eyes thought that there was more colour in his cheeks than there had been, but he still showed no signs of waking up.

Not even a flutter of his eyelashes.

Despite the time he'd been in hospital—the time she'd been at his side—it still seemed unnatural to see him so still.

Even when he was asleep, he was usually moving. He'd once told her that he often dreamt of Quidditch, and making the best catches.

It hadn't surprised her in the slightest.

He tended to calm when she was in his arms though, and just the thought was enough to hurt her heart. It had been almost nine months since she'd been there.

It wasn't the best Christmas she'd ever spent, but she was where she wanted to be. If only she could have had his arms around her again, it would have been perfect.

"Merry Christmas, Oli."

…

"_I'm so proud of you!" Oliver exclaimed, spinning her around. "You're going to be amazing, I know it!"_

_Katie looked down at the letter again and grinned. She'd been hoping to be called in for the Quidditch trials, but she hadn't truly expected it to happen._

"_Maybe I'll get Puddlemere," she said, her grin widening when she saw the way Oliver's eyes lit up._

"_You're definitely good enough for it," he said, nodding his head. "And you know the team so it would be a good fit. And—"_

"_Slow down," she said, patting his chest. "Maybe I'll flunk the whole thing and nobody will draft me."_

_Oliver snorted and shook his head. "Not possible."_

_Katie placed the letter down carefully on the desk, and turned to Oliver. "Is this a good idea? With the war and the—"_

"_Hey," Oliver said softly. "We agreed, didn't we? Not to put our lives on hold?"_

"_I know, I just… I guess I'm scared."_

"_I've never let anything happen to you before, have I?" Oliver asked. "I'll keep you safe, Katie. I promise."_

…

The morning frost was awful, and she pulled her scarf tighter against her. The breeze was freezing, and she regretted leaving the safe haven of warmth of the hospital.

She hadn't really had much of a choice though. It was her mother's birthday and Katie wouldn't have forgiven herself if she hadn't at least visited her.

Shivering, she finally stepped into the warmth of the hospital. Walking the familiar path to Oliver's hospital room, she frowned when she saw first one, then a second and third healer enter his room in a line.

She approached, only to be held back by a fourth healer she hadn't noticed.

"What's going on?" she asked, trying to push past the man holding her away from the door. "What's happening? What's wrong with Oliver?"

"Miss Bell, we need you to remain calm—"

"No! What's wrong with Oli?!"

"Miss—"

One of the healers stepped out of the room and touched the one holding Katie back on his shoulder. "It's okay, she can come in."

"What's going on?" Katie demanded.

"He's awake."

…

"_Katie… you know I have to go," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I can't sit back and not fight. It's not who I am."_

"_I know," she admitted. "I just… hate the thought of you being in danger. I can't lose you, Oliver."_

"_You won't," he murmured, his words a promise, an oath. "I'll come home. I'll always come home to you."_

_He kissed her and hugged her tightly for a long moment before he stepped away._

"_Stay safe," she whispered._

_He nodded, and then he was gone. Katie sat down in front of the fireplace, her foot bouncing on the floor._

_She only lasted seven minutes before she followed behind him._

_The not knowing was worse than any torture she could possibly face._

…

"Oli?"

Katie stepped into the hospital room, hardly daring to believe it until she saw with her own eyes that he was awake.

"Hey," he whispered. His voice was rough, like it was when he first woke up in the morning before he'd had his coffee.

"Oh my god," she whispered, raising a hand to cover her mouth. "Oli! Oliver! You're awake, oh my god!"

He stretched out a hand for her, and she stumbled towards him, almost throwing herself onto the bed as he wrapped his arms around her. She sobbed against his shoulder, clutching at him as though he'd disappear if she dared to let go.

"Hey, I'm okay," he whispered. "I'm okay, Katie. I told you I wouldn't leave you."

She nodded, tears still falling unashamedly down her face. She pulled away just enough to look up at his face. "You're okay."

"I'm okay," he confirmed. "You… they said you've been here the whole time."

Katie nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. It's my mum's birthday, I had too—"

"Your mum's birthday isn't until February."

Katie nodded slowly. "Oli… it's February second. You've been in a coma for nine months."

…

_She couldn't find him. She searched the crowds for him, but those seven minutes had given him enough of a head start that she had no idea where he was._

_There were familiar faces in the crowds, but everytime she opened her mouth to ask if anyone knew where Oliver was, they'd turn away, or they'd dodge a spell or be engaged in a fight._

_She didn't want to be here._

_She needed Oliver._

_Fighting off her fear, Katie continued her search when it came to her. There was only one place Oliver could possibly be._

_The same place she'd always known to find him when they were both students._

…

"Not that I'm not happy you're here but… why did you wait?" Oliver asked, stroking a hand through her hair. "Nine months is a long time."

"I'd have waited forever," she admitted, shrugging slightly. She lay beside him on the bed, her head pillowed on his chest, the sound of his heartbeat echoing in her ear. "Besides, I knew you'd wake up."

"How?"

"I wished on a shooting star," she admitted, smiling slightly. "Wishes on stars always come true, Oli. I've told you that."

"You have. You didn't go to the Quidditch trials?"

"Of course I didn't," she muttered, burrowing closer to him. "Even if I'd been in any condition for it, I… I guess I didn't want to spend that much time away from you."

"I thought it meant the world to you?" he asked, and it hurt her to hear him say that. She supposed for him, it was only a few days ago that she'd gotten the letter inviting her to the Chaser trials, but…

"It does," she admitted. "But there is no world for me without you."

* * *

**Written for:**

Disney - C1. Write about a school athlete.

Archive - 14. Firewhiskey

Basement - 4. "Don't you see the danger, [Name], inherent in what you're doing here?"

Marvel - 13. "Everyone wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn't always roll that way."

Funfair, North - Christmas Market - Non explodable luminous balloons - Burst / Katie Bell

Funfair, East - Snow Art - Orange: Drizzle / Pink: Curling up in a ball / Gray: Moss-Green

Funfair, South - Light the Menorah - 6. World

Stickers - Potion Cabinet - 5. Draught of Living Death - Write about insomnia.

Days - 85. Crossword Puzzle Day - Someone doing a crossword puzzle.

Season - 19. Morning frost

Colour - 9. Olive

Birthstone - 5. Lapis Lazuli - "I thought it meant the world to you." / "It does, but there is no world for me without you."

Flower - 9. Celosia - Wish on a star comes true

Tarot - 7. Eight of Wands - Something happening quickly.

Element - 2. Breeze

Bake a Cake - Icing - Vanilla Essence - Post War

House - Trait - 9. Arrogant

Star Chart - 1. September Equinox: Someone crossing a line

Religion - 8. Maha Navami - The number nine

History - 9. Someone recovering/being healed

365\. 288. Kindness


End file.
